Family Matters
by Izzu
Summary: The mission on the forest moon of Endor suddenly gets complicated.
1. Siblings

Slightly influenced by Ryder Wyndham's novelization as well as the Rebel Force series by Alex Wheeler. And might also be influenced by Hong Jac Ga's Star Wars webtoon. And for some reason I just HAD to write this scene.

* * *

The mission to Endor seemed simple enough. A bit crazy... yes, but that's almost part of her every day life now. It was _necessary_. Because the shield around the unfinished Death Star needed to be shut down before they could lay a hand to destroying that abomination.

A lot of things happened once they landed on the forest moon. Leia never thought her life could become even more complicated the moment she followed Luke out of the Ewok Chief Chirpa's hut. Because then, Luke suddenly started asking her about her _real_ mother and saying something about sensing Vader...

xxx

"He's my father."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. But she knew that Luke would never lie about things like this, yet...

"There's more. It won't be easy for you to hear it, but you must. If I don't make it back, you're the only hope for the Alliance."

For a long time she had served the Alliance, she had given her everything to fight for the cause. To the point that; yes, by now... she could be considered as one of the important leaders in the Alliance. Yet, she never really considered her existence could be far more important than it already was. Not the way she considered Luke's importance to the Alliance could be...

"The Force is strong in my family. My father has it… I have it… and my _sister_ has it."

She couldn't help feeling nervous the moment Luke mentioned the word 'sister'. Who... what... why did Luke suddenly mentioned this to her unless...

"Yes. It's you, Leia."

It stunned her. Luke... was her brother? It seemed hard to believe yet, she knew it was true. She couldn't explain it, but hearing those words seemed right. But they... weren't they the same age? Were they... _twins_? Then all these years since she'd known Luke—ever since the Death Star—that certain closeness that she felt about Luke that she could _never_ explain...or the anxiety she often felt whenever Luke was far away from her side for too long; was _this_ the reason?

"I know. Somehow... I've always known," she could hear herself say. The words flowed out _too_ naturally.

"And you know why I have to face him—"

There were many times when she fought the urge inside herself to want to keep Luke safe at all times, but she never thought about the reason why she often thought about it. The thought abouts wanting to keep Luke safe was always present in her mind, because she kept feeling that no one else _but_ her could keep Luke safe. It dawned to her now on why she felt that way.

She didn't want to lose Luke, now more than ever. To sent him to face such a danger by himself; how could she let that be? Right away she told Luke what her heart wished. She wished Luke could change his mind. _Run. Don't face Vader alone..._

But of course, Luke wouldn't listen to her.

"No, you don't! You've always been strong..."

There were times when she wished she wouldn't _need_ to be strong. Her heart ached. How could she try to be strong now while her only _real_ sibling was going to...

 _Why?_

"But _why_ must you confront him?"

"Because… there is _good_ in him. I've felt it. He won't turn me over to the Emperor. I can save him, I can turn him back to the good side. I have to try."

Could he do it? _Save_ their father? She could sense Luke's emotion even more clearly after realizing that he was her brother; but those emotions... were much more pained. She could feel what Luke felt; he really wanted to save their father, she could feel his longing... yearning for a father he had always missed. She knew that feeling too, she understood it very well. Both of them have lost the people they called family to the Empire. Both of them had known the sorrow of losing their loved ones. So if there was still someone that they could take back, wouldn't they _want_ to get those people back?

 _But it's Vader...!_

She barely noticed it as Luke kissed her cheek. Leia tried to keep holding on to Luke's hands but he pulled away from her. Walking away from her.

And as much as she wanted to run over and stop him, she couldn't. Because something inside her also told her that this was meant to happen. Luke _needed_ to go. She turned away from Luke, trying to not think about him leaving. Trying to not focus too much, at how she could hear Luke's footsteps growing fainter and fainter... until she couldn't hear it any longer.

But the more she tried to stop thinking about Luke, the more she started thinking about him. Luke was her brother. Strange that despite her finding that out for the first time, that knowledge was not that unfamiliar. As if she always known about it. Like she said earlier. That feeling that she had for Luke... that was different to how she felt for Han; it was this. It was the reason why she often felt so troubled whenever something happened to Luke; and why she always felt so happy whenever Luke was by her side.

 _Luke's going to see Vader..._

 _Will I be able to see him again after this?_

She felt her body tremble at the thought that she might not be able to see her brother again.

"Hey, what's goin' on?"

Leia snapped to attention as she turned to see Han standing before her. He smiled his crooked smile. "Come on, tell me. What's goin' on?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to be alone for a while." She could hear herself speak, despite not having the conscious thought about saying it.

"But you could tell Luke, is that who you could tell?" snapped Han, as Leia struggled to want to answer. But she couldn't! If she told him now, Han would try to stop Luke... and Luke wouldn't want that.

Still...

"Hold me," she said in the end.

xxx

Several times before, she used to wish that she could have the same powers as Luke had. Because to her, it felt like it could give her the same ability and strength as the Force had given Luke. Not that she thought herself as _weaker_ than him without such powers, but she used to want to be able to _have_ the same confidence as Luke usually have... that allowed him to create miracles.

She never thought that it could _really_ be possible, for her to have that power too. Inside of her. Yet...

She used to think that all these times she had relied on her own gut instincts that she could do what is right; what is necessary at the time. She used to think that she was only limited to her own self to do what she had to do, without having any divine presence to guide her. But perhaps... all these times, she _too_ have been guided by the Force. It brought her to her _current_ allies. It brought her to Luke. Luke.

 _Her brother..._

"Hey..."

Leia blinked. She turned as Han's concerned face came to her view. She also noticed that the sky was getting brighter. Dawn was approaching.

"Been wanting to ask this for a while but Luke's still hasn't returned. What did both of you talked about last night anyway? Did Luke forgot about our mission?"

That heavy weight inside her heart started making its presence known again. Well, she might as well _tell_ him. It wouldn't make a difference now. Leia shook her head. "No. Luke left... because he didn't want to jeopardize our mission."

"WHAT?" She could see that Han was angry. She couldn't blame him. "Was this because the kid said he could sense Vader before? Was that why? Where did Luke go... I gonna—"

Leia grabbed him by the arm.

"There's no use. You won't be able to catch up to him, Vader should have picked him up by now."

Han's eyes widened. " _Vader?_ Why...?"

"Luke's heading to the Death Star."

There, she said it. "There's someone he needed to _save_ over there, that's why he left." Leia bit her lips as she turned away to wipe away her tears. "And now we might as well get ready for our _own_ mission. There's still a lot to prepare..."

This time it was Han that grabbed her arm. She could see the look of betrayal in his eyes. "What did you mean by that? Why didn't you tell me this earlier? I could have helped—"

"No, you won't! You're still needed to lead the mission here!"

"Then you're saying we should abandon Luke? You? Leia... I thought you were better than that! You—" Han stopped himself as he finally noticed the pained look Leia was wearing. He immediate dropped the act as he held Leia's hand gently. Trying to give her some kind of reassurance.

"I'm sorry. It must be hard for you to let him go by himself." Han sighed as he turned his glance towards the sky. "That kid ain't stupid. He should be able to take care of himself up there... he had that Force of his, right?" he said, trying to cast aside his own doubts.

Leia nodded, almost listlessly. "I hope so too..."


	2. Brother

Might have a slight tiny hint of Truce of Bakura. As well as Shadows of the Empire.

* * *

When he saw the Death Star exploded—it was still so near that they could see its destruction in the light of day—a part of him was glad. It wasn't as grand as the first one—he wasn't up there getting in the actions, for one thing—but there was still that sense of _accomplishment_.

But then he recalled that a kid that he'd grown to be fond of; had gone off to that very station _earlier_ in the day. And looking at that big cloud of space particles and scrap metal didn't give him any good feeling. He hastily turned around to see Leia staring at the same sky.

"I'm sure Luke wasn't _on_ that thing when it blew..."

Leia stared away in the daze as she smiled...

xxx

She wasn't sure how to do it the way Luke did—using the Force—but then she recalled Bespin and that other time in Coruscant when Luke reached out towards her. There was... that _certain_ feeling; she was sure that if something should happen to Luke she would have sensed it. And she did! She could _sense_ that he was up there somewhere... safe and sound. _Alive_. She could sense that Luke was shaken about something... but right now all that mattered was that he's _alive_. Her brother was still alive!

Leia smiled. "He wasn't. I can feel it!"

It was certainly a new feeling, to be able to sense someone _dear_ to her in this way. But perhaps she could get used to this...

"You _love_ him... don't you?"

She turned back to face Han because his question felt odd to her. Because... of course she loved Luke a lot. He's very dear and gentle... and now knowing that they were related made it more _special_ for her. Having Luke as a family. The kindest person she had ever known. Knowing that she wasn't really _alone_ in this world...

"Yes, of co—"

"All right, I understand." _What?_ "When he comes back... I won't get in the way..."  
 _  
Huh?_

Oh. It suddenly struck her what this man was thinking. This infuriating man that often bugged her to make her choose between him and Luke. This man who often—in effect—made her brother feel uncomfortable over his own feelings for her. Of which, she could guess... probably stemmed from the same confusion she had before.

Then again, it's about time the nerfherder tasted his own medicine. Amusing enough, after everything he did... to just give up on her because of Luke? That was... quite _gentlemanly_. Knowing Han, deciding to let her go must have been so hard.

But suppose, she should relieve him of _that_ suffering.

"No, it's not like that at all." Leia pulled him closer, trying not to smile too much.

"He's my _brother_..."

xxx

Everyone's gathering here. Well... _almost_. The Ewok village couldn't really support everyone after all. Most of the Mon Cals were still up in orbit. Suppose... they _do_ need to keep the crew up there. Han laughed nervously.

He's not one to really get sociable. But hey... this is a great reason for a celebration. And surprisingly, the small team he's been dragging ended up having a great time getting along with those little Ewok creatures. He didn't really expected a full blown party set up as well. Those surviving X-Wing fighters took little time to locate this place too... news really spread fast.

"Han, you rascal!"

He turned around, saw Lando and happily greeted him. Well, trying not to get too chummy... he had a reputation to uphold.

"Hey! You lived!"

Lando laughed, as they held each other's arms tightly. "Who're you kidding? You _want_ me to live, all right?"

Han chuckled openly before lowering his voice. "No scratches... right?" he added, because _of course_ he cared that Lando was alive—he could see the other crew members that tagged along with Lando were also safe and sound—but he needed to shake Lando a bit. Just for fun.

Interesting enough, Lando's face paled for a bit. He frowned.

"Uh... _sure!_ Would you expect any less from me?"

Lando sounded nervous. He snorted. Well... not that he _really_ expected the Falcon to sustain no damage at all; at least Lando and his crew came back safe. A growl came from the other side as Lando left him to give Chewie a big hug. He shrugged to himself before noticing Leia getting fidgety suddenly.

"What?" he started to ask before she started to smile and turned around excitedly. Sure enough, as soon as he glance up he saw Luke running towards her... giving his sister a big hug. Han shook his head, feeling silly. Funny how before he often felt jealous of Luke for always getting _a lot_ of Leia's affectionate hugs... yet now, he felt stupid for even feeling envious. Luke and Leia parted as Han took his turn to squeeze the life out of the kid.

Kid looked like they've been apart for _years_. Luke didn't say anything as they stared at each other wordlessly. But then they broke eye contact, as Luke turned to greet Wedge and the rest of their allies. Han watched the kid for a while before sensing Leia's proximity to him. Leia's face glowed even brighter, now that Luke was here.

"Han!"

Her eyes were wet but he knew that it was out of pure joy. Even when Leia was the first one to find out that Luke managed to escape the battle station before it blew; he could see her still being anxious all evening waiting for her brother. He grinned.

"What did I tell you? Luke _did_ manage to take care of himself fine," he said as he pulled her close. He received a slap on the back as Leia leaned closer to whisper into his ears.

"Don't try to act tough on me, flyboy," she said, grinning. "I know you were worried as well."

Han just chuckled.

xxx

The night grew late. Some of the rebel fighters have gone back to rejoin the fleet that was still orbiting the forest moon. Some, had started to set up camp to sleep overnight over the clearings near the Ewok village. The rest... Han found, were still drinking away at the corner of the village centre. Probably still high over their victory today.

Sighing, he took a seat right opposite his two friends. He stared silently at both of them before shrugging.

"All right now, fess up. What else you were two hiding from me?"

Luke and Leia glanced towards each other, feigning innocence. Han blinked. Did he just imagined it? It never crossed his mind before but somehow... he thought he saw a slight resemblance shared between Luke and Leia. Like the shape of their noses... the way their eyes started to lit up. The same way they started to roll their eyes. Suddenly he felt a bit freaked out about it.

"Y-you know... I'm still trying to digest everything but—both of you were _actually_ related? Seriously?"

He could see Luke starting to blush as Leia trying to avoid looking at him. "Well... yeah, it's true," said Luke before he started staring at his hands, fidgeting. "It surprised me too when I found out... but it sure was nice. Having a family again."

Han kept his eyes on them as he frowned. "So, both of you never knew that you were related before? How did you find out?"

Luke shrugged, as Leia turned to face him.

"Ben told me. When I went back to Dagobah."

"That old foss—I mean, your old man? Wow... and he even took you along last time with the first Death Star—that old guy kept the secret even _then_? Why did you and Leia end up separated anyway?"

Han caught Leia giving Luke a warning look as Luke shrugged. _That_ piqued his interest.

"Well... Ben said that it was to protect both of us because—"

"—of the Jedi Purge!" Leia suddenly interjected. Luke turned towards her, looking somewhat horrified at being interrupted. She hastily waved her hand at Luke. "I _did_ grew up listening to stories of the Jedi, you know."

Leia turned to face Han. "Back then, the Emperor was _really_ adamant to wipe out all Jedi from the galaxy. So I guess that's why..."

Han nodded, still finding her acting a bit strange. He turned his attention back to Luke. "Anyway, why did you go to the Death Star? Leia said you wanted to save someone. Who was it?"

Luke glanced up to meet his gaze. For some reason, Han felt a chill running up his back. Luke smiled weakly.

"It was my _father_."


	3. Father

I shouldn't have jinxed myself. Originally planned to wrap this up in 2 chapters, but what happened instead?

* * *

"Come on Artoo, let's go," Luke started to say as he patted the droid to get its attention. Artoo beeped and tweeted in a concerned tone as Luke stared at him in surprise. Did he sway or stumbled when he came by? He shook his head. Then again, Artoo _did_ tend to worry about him a bit too much at times. Sometimes to the point he couldn't help feeling as if it had been his deceased _mother_ —whom he never knew or have memories of—and not _Artoo_ that kept fussing over him every day. But that was a silly thought. There's no way Artoo could have known his mother, whoever she was...

Luke smiled. He patted Artoo's dome again. "I'm fine... did you worry that I didn't take you along?"

Artoo tweeted some more as Luke chuckled. "Well, the Empire would have destroyed you anyway if you'd come... and I don't think you would have done any good up there." A nagging thought suddenly caught him off guard. If Artoo had been nearby... could he have helped fix his father's life support system that was shorted out the moment his father saved him from the Emperor? Luke hastily wiped his tears as he tried to not allow sorrow colour his emotions again.

Threepio turned towards him, as if finally noticing that he was around. "Oh Master Luke, I didn't realize you're back! Are you going somewhere?"

Luke stood up.

"I'm just going back up to check on my X-Wing that I left behind. You stay with Leia and the others for now, they may still need you to talk with the Ewoks. I'll just take Artoo with me."

The protocol droid nodded in acknowledgement. "Very well, sir. I'll do just that."

He was about to walk away when Leia suddenly ran to catch up to him. Leia grabbed his arm tightly as she caught her breath. "Oh Luke... thank goodness you didn't leave yet." Leia held her words for a moment before sighing.

"I... I'm sorry about earlier. I just... needed time to wrap my head around everything. I still... can't accept that he—I'm not sure I'm ready yet to let everyone else know about _that_."

He smiled, weakly. Well... he couldn't blame his sister completely. His father—no, Vader—had after all been present when Leia was forced to see Alderaan destroyed. And Vader was _also_ the one that tortured her on the first Death Star. He saw how the memories of those times tormented his sister. To learn that her _real_ father was the one doing all those evil things to her...

xxx

 _"So... did you save him?"_

 _He could feel his sister becoming tense as he spoke. He turned back to face Han. As expected, his friend started to glance around to see if he could spot any unfamiliar faces amongst the remaining crowd. Luke cast a wary glance towards Leia._

 _"Yeah... I saved him—"_

 _"So where is he? I'd like to see how your dad looked like!"_

 _Luke flinched as Han's words stabbed at him. Partially because he was still hurt that he couldn't bring back his father alive; another because he could feel Leia's emotions overwhelming his own._

 _"He—" A lump started to form inside his throat, almost choking him, "—he died before I could get him to the ship."_

 _"Wha—but you said you saved him!"_

 _He glanced up to see genuine confusion on Han's face, and recalled his father's last words to him. Luke nodded his head. "Yeah... I did." He turned to stare at Leia. "I was right. Father... wanted **you** to know that."_

 _Leia winced as Luke spoke to her. Han suddenly coughed out aloud and Luke wondered if it was because of the air of tension that started to gather around them. He turned away from Leia._

 _"I suppose it must have been hard to escape that place alive... even for **you**. Sorry your dad didn't make it. I mean, the Emperor and Vader was up there too." Han started to lower his voice. "They're dead... right? Tell me that, at least."_

 _"Yeah," he answered softly. "The Emperor's dead. Vader... too was dead."_

 _Luke could hear a loud sigh of relief coming from Han as he tried to keep his emotions steady._

 _"Wow... even the Emperor, huh? You really did it, kid. To think you're able to defeat the Emperor... and Vader..."_

 _"I DID NOT... kill the Emperor. That's not me..." Tears started welling in his eyes as he brushed the tears away. "It was Vader." A part of him wanted to say 'my father' but he didn't want to cause Leia any more alarm. But he just_ _ **had** to say something._

 _Suddenly he could feel eyes trained towards him from many directions. Some of the remaining fighters caught on some bit of their conversation and now started paying attention towards them. He ignored that as he stared straight towards Han._

 _" **Vader** killed the Emperor..." he said slowly. "If not for him, I would have died by the Emperor's hand."_

 _"Luke..."_

 _Luke pulled his hand away as Leia started to reach out to him. He got up on his feet. "Sorry... I needed to get some air," he said before taking his leave._

xxx

"Luke... I..."

"I'm not mad at you."

Luke shrugged as he leaned towards Artoo for support. "I know that it'll take time for you to accept everything. Or even to..." He didn't finish his words as he shook his head.

"I won't tell anyone until you're ready. I promise."

He got a peck on his cheek as he spoke; and Leia gave him another hug. Luke mustered a chuckle as he started to leave. But Leia stopped him again.

"Wait... Luke. Are you all right? You don't seemed to—I mean, I felt like you're not well. And you said _before_ that the Emperor almost killed you..."

"I'm _fine_ ," Luke said again before ushering Artoo to follow him, leaving his sister behind.

xxx

Han took a speeder bike into the forest, as he tried to figure his way out in the night towards shuttle Tydirium. Some of his squad team members had left—taking the ride back to the fleet on the shuttle Luke used to escape—but there's still a few left remaining. And there's those other crew members on Lando's team. And as much as the Falcon had a lot of space inside her cargo hold he's not gonna let all of them hitching a ride with him. He could only stand being around a large group for so long. And he's let someone else fly the Falcon long enough. Lando could have the Tydirium.

A sudden whiff of smoke caught his attention as Han slowed down and changed his course. Since they were in a big forest, any sparks could have led to a big fire. But the moment he arrived at the source he was caught off guard. There was a sign that there was a fire made here... but not just any bonfire.

It's a remains of a _funeral_ pyre.

Han frowned as he got off from his speeder bike. _Who could have made this?_ , he wondered. He didn't recall much casualties from his squad team or the Ewok clans... so it puzzled him. The wind suddenly blew hard towards him as Han heard something falling from the pile of half-burned logs and ashes. He crouched to take a look at the thing.

When he found it and held it against the moonlight he gasped.

It was a half-melted mask of Darth Vader.


	4. Family

All right... I hope I managed to end this neatly. Because this is as far as I'll go with this muse. Also, I'm trying to make this part fit with the early parts of Bakura. So any remaining issues that left unresolved in this chapter would continue towards Bakura.

Hope you guys enjoy. Cheers.

* * *

He'd loaded the speeder bike inside Tydirium's cargo hold as he started to light up the engine. It's just a short trip to the Ewok village anyway so he could pilot the ship by himself. Still... what he'd found earlier kept haunting his thoughts.

He ended up checking the site even more. No sign of an actual body remains—thank goodness, he didn't want to incur any angry spirits or something and the ashes didn't look like it's coming from a cremated body—but he found the rest of Darth Vader's 'body'. Or more like the body armour... actually. Tinted durasteel, electronics, wires... don't exactly burn well after all. He took a peek at some parts of the armour, and was surprised to see what looked like a charred remains of a life-support system... and _mechanical prosthetics_.

When you saw things like that... it just changed your views about things. Like he'd always thought that Vader's armour was just like any other armours but made to look even more menacing. Just for effects, scare factors. But to think that the armour was hiding something like this... it's just surprising. That low breathing that sent fears crawling up everyone's bones; turned out to be the sound of the breathing apparatus designed to keep Vader alive all these times. Suddenly Vader didn't seem to be all that hateful—to him—but more to pitiful. No wonder the guy's in bad mood all the time.

But another question hit him. Vader was _supposed_ to have died on the Death Star. How could his armour be on this forest moon instead? Unless, Luke...!  
 _  
"Vader killed the Emperor..."_

 _"If not for him, I would have died by the Emperor's hand."_

It can't be... right?

 _"—he died before I could get him to the ship."_

 _"There's someone he needed to save over there, that's why he left."_

The thoughts that kept popping inside his head just seemed to not making any sense. Yet... everything seemed to fit. Leia's wariness... for example. He thought it was strange that Leia didn't sound _too happy_ when Luke said that he saved their father. Even more that she actually seemed _relieved_ that Luke said he died. And the thing about when Luke started talking about why the two of them ended up separated at birth before Leia interrupted him...

Did Vader died... to save Luke? Was that why Luke cried when he talked about that? It's not because he wasn't the one that killed the Emperor, but it's because his _father_ was the one that did it. Knowing that it would _kill him_ in the process...!

The shuttle shook as one of its foil wings got caught by a stray branch. _Oops!_ Han berated himself for being distracted. He sighed.

But really... he never thought that Luke (and Leia)'s biological father could be someone like that. Then again, was that so surprising? Since Vader was so powerful, it could explain why Luke was also so...

He could see the Ewok village drawing closer so he started looking for a large enough clearing to land this thing on.

He thought of the many encounters he had with Vader. He thought of the many encounters Luke and Leia had with that guy. Vader tortured Leia before... and he cut off Luke's right hand. Come to think, it made sense now why Vader had been particular about capturing Luke _alive_. He remembered the incident in Bespin a little _too_ well.

Han heaved another long sigh before turning the engine down. Well, he of all people understood well enough not to judge others over things like blood ties. His own wasn't that _pretty_ or noble throughout as well.

 _"...I saved him."_

Was that what Luke _actually_ mean? Not that he saved his father's life... but he saved his father's _soul_? Under normal circumstances, he couldn't imagine why Vader would even betray on his master to save a Jedi—aren't Jedi and Sith supposed to be mortal enemies?—but to save his own son... he could buy that. Everyone weren't born evil after all so perhaps before Vader... there was a good man that sired both Luke and Leia. He could accept that. He's not one to keep grudges too long anyway.

xxx

He came back to see Leia listening in to a conference call between Mon Mothma, Crix Madine and Ackbar. Heck... apparently Luke was also present up there on the rebel flagship's war room. He barely caught the end tail of Mon Mothma and Madine's scolding Luke for being mindless about his own health.

Han stared at Leia's face as she concentrated on the discussion. He joined in beside her, chipping in his opinion once a while as he waited until the conference ended.

When the call ended, he waited for the right moment to touch the topic. They've started packing their things now and they also got this new mission that they had to do. Or more like, a new mission that _Leia_ needed to do. Regardless, he found it hard to string out some words to start the ball rolling. It's not the same as their _earlier_ chat after Luke left. That one had them talking about their life's ambitions, motivations, past friends and adventures... which was not really personal topics that one should be mindful enough to tread carefully. He even got Leia to laugh a bit as he mentioned about that one time she kissed Luke just to make a point to him and then asking what she thought about it now, now that she learnt that Luke was her brother. (Well, lucky Luke wasn't around to hear that... it probably be more awkward for them if all _three_ of them had been present.)

But... eventually, they would _still_ have to talk about this topic. And better he confirm his suspicions first so that he could prepare himself in case something happen later. Because one thing he was sure of, was that it wasn't good for Leia to keep things bottled up for too long. He'd seen the few times when Leia had snapped for no reason, and it's never _ever_ been good.

"Hey... Leia, you have a minute?"

It was rare for him to just address her by her name, but this topic was a bit _too personal_ and he didn't want to rile her up unnecessarily by making fun of her title. _How'd it work now... actually, considering her relationship with Luke?_ But that's not even his business to care about.

"What?"

 _Well... here goes..._

"Well, Leia... you know there's something that kept bothering me... about the things Luke said. And about the things _you_ said..."

There it was... the tensed muscles at the corner of her mouth.

"You said it was _Vader_ that picked Luke up from the shield generator station... and then Luke said that Vader _saved_ his life from the Emperor. I can't help finding that strange. And I might be looking at this wrong but... Luke seemed a bit _defensive_ of Vader now, which was a bit strange too. And then he seemed to be _sad_ that Vader's dead and his—your dad... I mean your real... uh... dead too, b-but Luke was more sad about..."

"What were you trying to say?" Leia snapped.

He tried not to flinch at that retort too much. "I mean... What I was trying to say is—Is there... something _else_ you and Luke were not telling me?"

"What do you want to know? Whether on not my father was—" He could have sworn Leia was trying to mouth something that started with a V, but then stopped herself. "What did you found when you went out to recover the shuttle? You saw something... right? Is that what you're telling me? Are you going to tell on people about it?"

"Whoa... wait, hold on there... Your Highnessness! Don't start bombarding your salvos on me. I was trying to get the facts sorted! You know... _Princess_ , you and Luke had been my closest friend in this Alliance—sure, Lando and Chewie were _also_ my friends—I mean, you get it! We've gone through so much things together and you know, no matter what I'll still watch over your backs. Even if you and Luke had some kinda dark past—darker than mine even—I won't ever judge _either_ of you for it. So tell me... is it true? Because yes, I did saw the remains of Vader's armour at some corner of the forest over there... and I don't think it just _happened_ to fall from the Death Star." Han took a long breath afterwards and suddenly remembered to look around him to make sure that no one was eavesdropping on him.

Well, the gesture was unneeded anyway since they're inside the Falcon's cargo hold at the moment but one can't be too careful.

The cat's out of the bag now and he'd let out everything that he wanted to say. Leia suddenly seemed to lost her fire as she started to sway—and he caught her just on time. Right away Leia tightened her hold around his waist.

"I was so scared, I wished all of that wasn't true..."

Han kissed her forehead softly, as she looked up towards him. He shrugged. "I guess the real reason why you and Luke were separated at birth was to hide both of you from Vader, huh?"

Leia nodded. "I think so. Most likely. You should know already how far Vader had gone just to capture Luke alive. You _were_ his test subject for the trap he supposedly planned for Luke. You should've been there... Luke was never quite the same since Bespin. I used to think it's because he couldn't save you but I never realized..."

Both of them went quiet for a while. Han bit his lips. A part of him wanted to add that... since Vader saved Luke's life; perhaps that means that maybe before his death... Vader had gone back to become a good guy. You know, like returning back to the _light side_... the way Luke would say it. Luke _did_ say he saved their father. And seeing that Vader turned back to being good because he couldn't stand seeing his own son suffering, that should count for something. Right?

But he's not sure how to say all that to her. And he realized that _maybe_ the reason Leia was on an edge about all of this was because...

"Oh! Princess Leia! General! You're both here!" Threepio suddenly exclaimed before wobbling towards them, clumsily. "There was a transmission from Artoo! Apparently Master Luke insisted he _have_ to take part in this mission to Bakura."

"What?" Leia exclaimed as Threepio added.

"I do not know the full detail, and I wasn't able to contact the flagship."

Leia shook her head as she turned towards Han. "We better get up there, find out what's happening," Han stared at her back, amused. The princess was already back to her usual self, ordering him around in his own ship. She turned around again, before he could wipe away the smile on his face.

"Just to be sure, no telling anyone else about the things we talked about just now. I don't want any of these details reach Mon Mothma or anyone else or you'll be getting _more_ than just a scolding—"

Han raised both his hands in defence. "I promise!"

xxx

"Also, no telling Luke that we even _argued_ about this topic!" she added as Han nodded almost too rapidly.

Seeing that, she couldn't help smiling. A part of her had been worried about how her life would go from this point, now that she was aware of the dark side of her lineage. But she didn't want Luke to know that she even _had_ these dark thoughts. Because to Luke, his gift in the Force might be a good thing. But to her, it also comes with a darkness that she wasn't sure she could carry by herself.

For a moment, she was grateful to have Han by her side.

Regardless, the future would still have a lot in store for her. She could take her time to deal with the unpleasant side of her family matters some _other_ time.


End file.
